I've been doing CrossFit for 8 months (give or take), and have tried to change my diet to meet the demands of the WODs. I've always had issues with pre-workout nutrition (i.e. even when I was just doing body building-style lifting), but it's really getting to be a problem at times.

I feel that I have to eat IMMEDIATELY before a workout, otherwise I feel drained, hungry, and I can't perform well at all. If I eat too much before, I'm sluggish and feel like puking due to the fullness. I almost killed myself today when I lost control of a barbell and almost dropped it on my head whilst doing thrusters. This is what I ate this morning:

My diet is usually pretty good, and I must admit that today was a reeeeeally off day for me in the gym. Normally I don't feel like I shouldn't be doing an exercise because I may kill myself, but I do feel that something is "missing". I try to stay away from processed carbs as much as possible, but other than that I have no real diet plan or regimen. I guess I just need some more ideas for pre-workout foods that will stay with me without having to eat literally minutes before working out.

Again, what are you eating in general? Plenty of people who think their diet is fine turn out to be doing stuff that almost guarantees some kind of problem: either they aren't eating enough, or they're setting themselves up for a sugar crash. The pre-workout meal you posted would be fine for me, which again makes me think there's something else going on.

A really off day can also be an early warning sign of something like a flu bug, or a side effect of inadequate sleep the night before. So if it's only one day it might not have anything to do with your diet at all.

True, there could be a ton of things going on that caused today to be particularly bad in the gym. I feel fine otherwise today. I do notice that I'm hungry, feel sluggish, etc., a lot during workouts (other than fatigue from the WOD). It's hard to list everything I eat because I get bored often and try to mix it up as much as possible. Chicken, pork, vegetables, dairy (trying to cut back on this), read meat, protein powder.

I guess I'll just look through the forums and figure out what else to eat. Thanks for the help!

True, there could be a ton of things going on that caused today to be particularly bad in the gym. I feel fine otherwise today. I do notice that I'm hungry, feel sluggish, etc., a lot during workouts (other than fatigue from the WOD). It's hard to list everything I eat because I get bored often and try to mix it up as much as possible. Chicken, pork, vegetables, dairy (trying to cut back on this), read meat, protein powder.

I guess I'll just look through the forums and figure out what else to eat. Thanks for the help!

If you're often hungry and sluggish, either you aren't eating enough generally, or there's something wrong with your macronutrient ratios. For instance, many people on paleo diets get very few carbs. That can lead to glycogen depletion and low blood sugar, which in turn can affect energy levels and, in extreme cases, even cause dizziness and fainting.

Yea you could try upping the carbs throughout the day do give yourself a boost. Also if you try and keep pre workout to liquid for it might help you feel a little less like puking during a wod. I wouldn't recommend the yogurt and spinach before a workout haha thats just waiting to come right up. You could try some coconut water, just something light. Any idea on how many calories your eating a day?

Try eating 1.5h-2h before and have a quick snack before the workout. You can also snack on something like grapes or raisins throughout the workout besides.

If you eat just before the workout, your body may have less blood to go around because it is using more to digest the food in your stomach.

Speaking from experience, I do not reccomend protein/carb (endurox,etc) drinks on metcon days. Fine for Oly or Strength days but not a good combo for the metcon, especially if they have any sort of stimulants. Pukie here we come.

It's kinda hard to mess up "pre wod nutrition" this much for a 30 minute workout. MEaning, it's your entire day/week nutrition that is the problem. And #8, I don't agree at all, you don't need that stuff for a 30 minute wod.